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Obake (お化け) andbakemono (化け物) are a class ofyōkai,preternatural creatures inJapanese folklore. Literally, the terms meana thing that changes, referring to a state of transformation orshapeshifting.
These words are often translated as "ghost", but primarily they refer to living things or supernatural beings who have taken on a temporary transformation, and thesebakemono are distinct from the spirits of the dead.[1] However, as a secondary usage, the termobake can be a synonym foryūrei, the ghost of a deceased human being.[2]
Abakemono's true form may be an animal such as afox (kitsune), araccoon dog (bake-danuki), abadger (mujina), a transformingcat (bakeneko), the spirit of a plant—such as akodama, or an inanimate object which may possess a soul inShinto and otheranimistic traditions.Obake derived from household objects are often calledtsukumogami.
Abakemono usually either disguises itself as a human or appears in a strange or terrifying form such as ahitotsume-kozō, anōnyūdō, or anoppera-bō. In common usage, any bizarre apparition can be referred to as abakemono or anobake whether or not it is believed to have some other form, making the terms roughly synonymous withyōkai.[3]
Due to the influence of a large number ofHawaiians with Japanese ancestry, on the islands ofHawaii the termobake has found its way into the dialect of the local people. Some Japanese stories concerning these creatures have found their way into local culture in Hawaii: numerous sightings ofkappa have been reported on the islands, and the Japanese faceless ghosts callednoppera-bō have also become well known in Hawaii under the namemujina. This name confusion seems to have stemmed from a story byLafcadio Hearn titled "Mujina", a story about a badger (mujina) which takes the form of anoppera-bō, rather than being one itself, which first introduced the faceless ghost to the Western world.
Hawaiian folkloristGlen Grant was known for hisObake Files, a series of reports he developed about supernatural incidents in Hawaii. The grand bulk of these incidents and reports were of Japanese origin or concernedobake.[4]
Bakemono is featured inThe Terror: Infamy, the second season ofAMC's television series,The Terror.[5]
Definitions from two major Japanese dictionaries:
